


The Seven Princes

by MuseofLullabys



Category: Brothers Grimm - Fandom, Fairytale - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Brothers, Brothers Grimm, Dark Fantasy, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Fantasy, Gen, General Audiences - Freeform, Inspired by Disney, Magic, Princes, Seven Deadly Sins, Sorcerers, Troll - Freeform, Trolls, non romantic, prince - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 19:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9457805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuseofLullabys/pseuds/MuseofLullabys
Summary: An original fairy tale in a very Grimm-esque style, telling the tale of the Seven Princes of a long forgotten kingdom.





	

Once upon a time,  
in a kingdom of seven mountains,  
there were seven princes.  
When the king attained a great  
age, he divided his kingdom  
into seven parts, for the princes  
would quarreled with one another  
on who would be king.

For years, the seven princes  
ran each kingdom as they saw  
fit, often waging wars against  
each other to attain more land.  
This, however, only resulted in  
hundreds' of servants' deaths.

This changed one winter, when an  
old beggar traveling the countryside  
visited six of the seven princes.  
The man whore a black cloak with a  
black mask, and wielded a burned  
sycamore cane.

The first prince, the eldest,  
was a beautiful but vain man,  
who would only accept the most  
beautiful gifts, and would speak  
only to those he deemed as beautiful  
as he.

When the old beggar pled him for  
shelter from the harsh winter,  
the prince scorned him;  
"You are ugly, and only those  
as beautiful as I shall lend  
my ear!"

That night, the first prince  
woke with a start, and a fright,  
for his face had been stolen,  
melting away before his eyes.  
In despair, the prince hung  
himself, for he felt nothing  
without his face.

The second prince lusted over  
knowledge, so much so that he  
forbade his kingdom to read or  
learn so he would be the only  
scholar in all the land.

When the old beggar came to  
his door pleading for shelter,  
the prince scowled at his humble  
speech; "Be gone from me, ignorant  
fiend! Only those as learned as I  
shall speak in my kingdom!"

The next morn, his servants  
were startled to find their  
prince in his study, his head  
crushed in his own book.

The third prince was known  
as a glutton throughout all  
seven kingdoms. He often ordered  
his subjects to surrender their  
crops and stock so that he could  
feast every day as the king he  
believed himself to be.

When the old beggar pled unto  
the third prince for shelter  
and food, the prince snarled  
at him; "Be gone, frail bird!  
The spoils of my kingdom are  
for my pallet alone!"

The next morn, he was found  
upon his own table, the centerpiece  
of his daily feast. He was bound,  
roasted as a pig with an apple  
in his mouth, and olives for  
eyes.

The fourth prince was a haughty,  
brawny man who thirsted for nothing  
More than victory from combat. He  
would order every able bodied man  
no matter the age to battle him.  
He won every time, and took their  
heads as trophies.

When the old beggar pled the  
fourth prince for shelter, the  
prince sneered at him, "Leave,  
frail cur! For only those  
stronger than I shall enter  
my palace!"

The next dusk, the fresh group  
of warriors discovered their  
prince in the center of his  
arena, his sword thrust into  
the earth, his head on the hilt.  
His body was never found through  
all of the seven kingdoms.

The fifth prince adored power  
and wealth. He would tax his  
kingdom more and more until  
his kingdom nearly withered.  
Every night, before bed, he  
would bathe in the gold coins  
he had collected.

When the old beggar pled him  
from shelter from the growing  
harshness of winter, the fifth  
prince snubbed his nose, "Depart  
from my home, wretched peasant!  
Only if you give me a satchel  
of gold shall you enter."

The next morn, the fifth prince's  
appointed tax collectors discovered  
a satchel laying on the throne of  
their prince, his body cut up into  
tiny fragments, and stuffed inside  
the bag.

The sixth prince, the last known  
to be visited by the beggar, was  
a cruel man. He delighted in the  
suffering of others, finding rapture  
in torturing his subjects with traps  
he created in boredom.

When the beggar pled the sixth  
prince for shelter, the prince  
only smiled, drawing his favorite  
dagger, "The only way you shall  
enter my castle is in pieces!"

After hearing a deathly scream,  
the prince's subjects rushed to  
the entrance of the castle,  
finding the sixth prince's body  
contorted into knots, his black  
heart cast into the snow. His  
favorite dagger laid neatly by  
the threshold, without one spec  
of blood.

While on his way to the seventh  
prince's palace, the winter storm  
became too much for the old beggar.  
He was buried waist deep in the  
snow, pleading for any townsman  
who passed to help him.

Much to his surprise, none of  
the men stopped to help the old  
beggar. They simply looked upon  
him, and ran for their own homes.

The old beggar rested his head on  
the snow in great sadness, closing  
his eyes and waiting for death to  
take him as he drifted into sleep.

However, when the old beggar opened  
his eyes, he found himself in a  
small, tattered cabin just outside  
the forest of the seventh kingdom,  
wrapped in a blanket with a fire  
roaring close.

There, hunched over the fireplace,  
sat a large, thick creature with  
long hair, large hands and long  
tusks, a long tail dragging across  
the stone floor. The creature was  
a troll, and the troll looked over  
to the old beggar, pouring a bowl  
of soup from the pot and brought it  
to the man.

"Please, eat." Spoke the troll,  
who looked as though he himself  
were starving, "You need this more  
than I. Eat."

The old beggar thanked him,  
looking at the soup before  
looking back at the troll;  
"You live so poorly." He  
told the troll, "Why is  
that?"

"The people of the kingdom  
call me a monster, for I do  
not look like them." The  
troll told the old beggar,  
"I live here so they cannot  
harm me as much."

"That is horrible." Said the  
beggar as he ate his soup,  
"Is this your only meal?"

"Please." Spoke the troll,  
tucking him into the blankets,  
"Eat."

And so the old beggar thanked  
the troll again before finishing  
the soup, and falling asleep.

Several months had passed until  
the winter melted into spring,  
and the old beggar was still a guest  
at the troll's home. Whispers rung  
through all seven kingdoms of the  
old man, but the troll heeded them  
not, for they were simple rumors,  
nothing more.

While out gathering herbs for  
the night's meal, the troll was  
cornered by the men of the seventh  
kingdom, "Why do you not heed us,  
monster? Why do you entertain  
that old beggar when we've told  
you of what happened in the other  
six kingdoms?!"

"I do not know." Spoke the troll,  
"Nor do I care of rumors. He is  
my friend, and shall be my company  
until he wishes dismissal."

The townsmen were enraged,  
binding the troll against the  
eldest sycamore tree, throwing  
large stones at the troll.

The old beggar heard the  
noise, and rushed from the  
cottage, stepping before  
the troll between stones,  
"Do not harm my friend!"

The townsmen looked to one  
another, laughing haughtily  
at the old beggar, "And what  
sway have you, old beggar?  
You are as the troll;  
nothing!"

The old beggar undid his  
black cloak, and tossed  
away his mask. As he did,  
his ugliness melted away,  
revealing a handsome man  
dressed in fine garbs. This  
man was the seventh prince,  
who the townsmen knew was  
well learned in magic.

The townspeople tried to  
apologize, but they could  
not sway the seventh prince,  
for he had seen the uncaring  
of his own subjects' hearts.

With a wave of the burned  
sycamore cane, the prince  
rendered every man there  
into dust, scattering what  
was left into the wind. The  
binds holding the troll were  
melted away, and the troll  
bowed humbly before the prince  
in great fright.

But the prince bade the troll  
to stand, smiling brightly as  
the spring; "Do not kneel before  
me. I am the same man you tended  
to with such care these past few  
months." The prince took the troll's  
hands, "As a reward for your kindness,  
you shall have anything. Anything  
within the seven kingdoms is yous,  
my friend!"

But, the troll shook his head,  
"My lord, I've no right to ask  
for more than I've been given.  
My only wish in this life was  
to have company, and to not be  
alone; for trolls do not have  
families."

The prince laughed happily,  
"Then you shall never know  
loneliness again! You are now  
my brother, and therefore shall  
come with me to my palace, and  
live as a prince!"

And so, the seventh prince had  
reclaimed all seven kingdoms  
and all seven mountains as his  
own. He crowned the troll as a  
prince, and he and the seventh  
prince lived in his palace in  
content forever after.


End file.
